Louisiana Background Check Laws for Employers
Louisiana does not ban the box for private employers, but since 2021 it tells them how to use what they find: an individual assessment for every conviction and no use of arrests that never became convictions. Add the state-employer ban-the-box law, the E-Verify-or-document-retention rule, the drug-testing statute, the expungement code and the federal FCRA, and you have the whole Louisiana picture. This guide covers each rule and names the agency behind it.
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At a glanceFCRA stepsAct 406Ban the boxRecords you may useLookbackE-VerifyDrugs, credit, social mediaIndustry rulesServicesChecklistFAQs
Louisiana employment screening laws at a glance
Louisiana has no consumer-reporting statute of its own, so the federal FCRA carries the process rules. The Revised Statutes below decide what you may ask, what you may use and how you must verify work authorization.
| Rule | What it requires | Administering agency |
|---|---|---|
| Federal FCRA, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. | Stand-alone disclosure, written authorization, pre-adverse and adverse-action notices, seven-year limit on reported non-convictions below $75,000. | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Federal Trade Commission; private suits |
| La. R.S. 23:291.2 (Act 406 of 2021) | When considering criminal history, employers must make an individual assessment of whether the record has a direct and adverse relationship to the job, may not request or consider arrest records or charges that did not result in a conviction, and must give the applicant the background information used on written request. | No agency, threshold or penalty named in the section; applied by courts and in EEOC charges |
| La. R.S. 42:1701 (Act 398 of 2016); Civil Service Rule 22.4.1 | State employers may not ask about criminal history for unclassified positions until the applicant has had an opportunity to interview or received a conditional offer, except law enforcement, corrections and law-required checks; Civil Service Rule 22.4.1 (January 1, 2017) applies a matching rule to classified positions. | Louisiana State Civil Service; each state agency |
| La. R.S. 23:995 (E-Verify or document retention) | Private employers must either verify new hires through E-Verify or retain copies of the picture identification and one of the listed work-authorization documents for each hire. | Louisiana Workforce Commission |
| La. R.S. 38:2212.10 (public contracts) | Contractors and subcontractors on state and local public contracts must use E-Verify. | Contracting public entity |
| La. R.S. 49:1001 et seq. (drug testing) | Employers that test for marijuana, opioids, cocaine, amphetamines or PCP must use a SAMHSA- or CAP-certified laboratory following the SAMHSA guidelines, medical review officer certification of positives, confidential handling and employee access to results; oil and gas exploration and certain other sectors are carved out. | Employers (policy); Louisiana courts |
| La. C.Cr.P. art. 971 et seq. (expungement) | Expunged records are confidential and no longer public; the person need not disclose the arrest, conviction or expungement to anyone other than law enforcement, criminal justice agencies and prosecutors, and listed licensing boards may obtain the record on written request. | District courts; Louisiana State Police, Bureau of Criminal Identification |
| La. R.S. 51:1951 et seq. (Personal Online Account Privacy Protection Act) | Employers may not request or require a username, password or other authentication information for a personal online account, or penalize a refusal. | No agency or penalty named in the Act |
| La. R.S. 23:301 et seq. (Employment Discrimination Law); Title VII | No discrimination on protected traits by employers with 20 or more employees; the EEOC guidance on criminal records applies through Title VII to employers with 15 or more. | Louisiana Commission on Human Rights; U.S. EEOC |
The FCRA process every Louisiana employer must follow
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act governs every background check a consumer reporting agency prepares for a Louisiana employer. The state rules on this page sit on top of it, never in place of it.
Louisiana adds no state notices to the federal sequence, but Act 406 adds a decision rule: document the individual assessment before the pre-adverse action notice goes out, and be ready to hand the applicant the background information you used if asked in writing.
Disclose and authorize
Give the applicant a clear, stand-alone disclosure that a consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes, and get written authorization before you order. Keep the disclosure free of liability waivers and extra language.
Order the right scope
Match the search to the position. Order criminal, driving, credit, and verification searches only where the job supports them, and apply the same package to every candidate for the same position.
Pre-adverse action
Before you decide against a candidate because of the report, send a copy of the report and the CFPB Summary of Your Rights, then wait a reasonable period, commonly five business days, so the candidate can dispute errors.
Adverse action notice
If you proceed, send the final notice naming the screening company, stating that it did not make the decision, and explaining the right to a free file copy within 60 days and the right to dispute.
Act 406: the individual assessment and the arrest-record ban
What the statute says
La. R.S. 23:291.2, effective August 1, 2021, lets an employer request and consider criminal history, but when it does, it must make an individual assessment of whether the applicant’s criminal history has a direct and adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job that may justify denying the position. Three factors are named: the nature and gravity of the offense or conduct, the time elapsed since it, and the nature of the job sought. On the applicant’s written request, the employer must make available any background check information used in the hiring process.
Arrest records are off limits
The same section bars employers from requesting or considering an arrest record or a charge that did not result in a conviction when making a hiring decision. Pending charges are not convictions; consider them with care and revisit the decision when the case resolves.
Who is covered
The section names no employee threshold of its own. Employment-law firms read it through the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law’s definition of employer, generally 20 or more employees, but the safest course is to apply it at any size; the same three factors track the EEOC guidance that applies at 15 employees.
Enforcement
Act 406 names no enforcing agency and creates no penalty of its own. It sets the standard a Louisiana court or the EEOC will apply when a rejected applicant claims disparate impact under Title VII or the state discrimination law.
Document the assessment
Record the offense, the date, the duties of the job and why the record does or does not bear on those duties. Keep it with the pre-adverse action file.
Tell your screening company not to report arrests without dispositions on Louisiana orders.
Ban the box in Louisiana: state employers, plus local rules
La. R.S. 42:1701, enacted by Act 398 of 2016, bars state employers from inquiring about a prospective employee’s criminal history for positions in the unclassified service until the applicant has been given an opportunity to interview or has received a conditional offer, except law enforcement, corrections and positions where a background check is required by law. State Civil Service Rule 22.4.1, effective January 1, 2017, applies the same timing to classified positions.
Private employers
No Louisiana statute limits when a private employer may ask about convictions. You may ask on the application, but Act 406 governs what you do with the answer.
Local fair-chance rules
New Orleans applies ban-the-box rules to city hiring and, since March 1, 2019, to city contractors, and a 2017 executive order bars salary-history questions in city hiring. East Baton Rouge Parish removed the question from its own applications in 2018 and extended the rule to city-parish contractors in 2023. Check the contract terms if you sell services to those governments.
Practical policy
Ask about convictions only, never arrests, on any Louisiana form.
Many employers defer the conviction question to the interview, which makes the Act 406 assessment easier to document.
Which Louisiana records you may and may not use
Louisiana keeps criminal records in the district courts of 64 parishes and at the State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification. Several categories are off limits.
Expunged records
Under La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 971 et seq., expunged arrests and convictions are confidential and no longer public records. Article 973 lets law enforcement, criminal justice agencies and prosecutors keep access, lets listed licensing boards such as the Office of Financial Institutions, the medical, nursing and pharmacy boards and the Department of Insurance obtain the record on written request, and otherwise relieves the person of any duty to disclose the arrest, conviction or expungement.
Arrests without conviction
Off limits under Act 406 for covered employers, and limited to seven years below $75,000 under the FCRA for everyone. Do not order or use arrest-only records for Louisiana positions.
Article 893 and 894 dispositions
A plea under La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 893 (felony) or art. 894 (misdemeanor) that ends in a set-aside and dismissal is not a conviction for most purposes. It appears on the court record until then; read the outcome before acting.
First-offender pardons
A first felony conviction for a non-violent crime is automatically pardoned on completion of sentence under La. Const. art. IV, § 5(E)(1) and La. R.S. 15:572(B). The conviction remains a public record and may be considered, but the pardon is part of the assessment.
Juvenile records
Juvenile court records are confidential under the Children’s Code and are not available for private employment screening.
State Police name checks
The Bureau of Criminal Identification releases name-based records only where a statute authorizes the check. Most private employers rely on parish-level court research, which is what the statewide search delivers.
How far back a Louisiana background check can go
Louisiana has no reporting-limit statute. The federal FCRA sets the outer limits, and Act 406 removes non-convictions from the decision for covered employers.
Non-convictions
Under the FCRA, arrests and other adverse items that did not end in conviction may not be reported more than seven years after they occurred, for positions paying under $75,000. Under Act 406 they may not be used at all.
Convictions
The FCRA places no age limit on reported convictions. The time elapsed is one of the three Act 406 factors, so an older offense weighs less in the assessment.
Higher-paid positions
For positions expected to pay $75,000 or more, the FCRA seven-year limit on non-convictions does not apply. The Act 406 arrest rule still does.
Set the lookback in your written policy by position class, then order the same scope for every candidate in that class.
E-Verify in Louisiana: verify or keep the documents
La. R.S. 23:995 gives private employers a choice for every new hire: verify the person through E-Verify, or retain a copy of the picture identification and one of the listed documents, a U.S. birth certificate or certified birth card, a naturalization certificate, a certificate of citizenship, an alien registration receipt card, or a Form I-94 with an employment-authorized stamp. An employer that does one of the two is not subject to the state civil penalties, and an E-Verify user is presumed to have acted in good faith.
Public contracts
La. R.S. 38:2212.10, effective January 1, 2012, bars a private employer from bidding on or contracting with a public entity for services performed in Louisiana unless it verifies in a sworn affidavit that it uses E-Verify, and requires the same affidavit from subcontractors.
Enforcement
The Louisiana Workforce Commission investigates complaints under La. R.S. 23:992 et seq. Civil penalties run up to $500 per unauthorized worker for a first violation, $1,000 for a second and $2,500 for a third, plus a 30-day to six-month suspension of the business license.
How it fits your process
Form I-9 on day one for every hire. If you choose E-Verify, run the case within three business days; enrollment is free at e-verify.gov.
If you choose document retention, keep the copies with the I-9 for the same retention period.
Drug testing, credit checks, salary history and social media
Drug testing
La. R.S. 49:1001 et seq. applies to every Louisiana employer that tests for marijuana, opioids, cocaine, amphetamines or phencyclidine, with carve-outs for federally mandated programs, oil and gas exploration and production, and regulated utilities. Samples must go to a SAMHSA- or CAP-certified laboratory following the SAMHSA guidelines, positives must be certified by a medical review officer, results are confidential, and a confirmed-positive employee may see the records within seven working days of a written request.
Marijuana
Private employers need not accommodate medical marijuana and may test for THC. La. R.S. 49:1016 (Act 651 of 2022) bars state employers from penalizing an employee or applicant with a physician’s recommendation solely for a positive marijuana test, with exceptions for use or impairment at work, state-vehicle duties and public-safety roles; it does not reach private employers. DOT roles follow 49 C.F.R. Part 40.
Employment credit reports
Louisiana has no statute restricting employer credit checks. Earlier versions of this page limited them to managerial and fiduciary positions; that rule does not exist, and La. R.S. 9:3571.1, sometimes cited, regulates credit reporting agencies and consumer file access, not employers. The FCRA steps apply, and the EEOC discourages credit screens that are not job related.
Salary history
Louisiana has no statewide salary-history ban. New Orleans bars the question in city hiring. Pay decisions must still comply with the federal Equal Pay Act and the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law.
Social media passwords
The Personal Online Account Privacy Protection Act, La. R.S. 51:1951 et seq., bars employers from requesting or requiring a username, password or other authentication information for a personal online account, and from penalizing or threatening an applicant or employee who refuses. Employer-issued devices and accounts are excepted, and publicly available content may be viewed.
AI in hiring
No Louisiana statute regulates automated hiring tools. Title VII disparate-impact rules apply to any screen, so test tools for adverse impact and keep a human decision-maker.
Louisiana industry-specific screening requirements
Healthcare and direct care
Nursing facilities, hospitals, home health and hospice providers must obtain criminal history checks on non-licensed direct-care staff through a State Police-authorized agency under La. R.S. 40:1203.1 et seq. before hire; listed offenses disqualify. Providers also check the Louisiana Department of Health’s Direct Service Worker Registry.
Child care
Early learning center staff, volunteers and household members must clear the Child Care Criminal Background Check under La. R.S. 17:407.42, administered by the Louisiana Department of Education, before working unsupervised.
Public schools
School employees and licensed educators submit fingerprints for State Police and FBI checks under La. R.S. 17:15, administered by local school boards and the Department of Education.
Private security
Security officers and agencies are licensed by the Louisiana State Board of Private Security Examiners under La. R.S. 37:3270 et seq. with fingerprint-based checks.
Transportation
CDL drivers follow FMCSA rules: the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse query, the 49 C.F.R. Part 40 panel and motor vehicle record reviews. Louisiana OMV records are available through the driving-records service.
Gaming and finance
Casino, video-poker and racetrack employees are licensed by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board; banks follow FDIC Section 19; broker-dealers follow FINRA Rule 3110; insurance producers are checked by the Department of Insurance.
Screening services built for Louisiana employers
BCS Background Screening LLC runs FCRA-compliant searches for Louisiana employers of every size, with no setup fee and per-search pricing.
Louisiana statewide criminal search
Real-time district court research across 35 parishes covering more than 85 percent of Louisiana’s population, $20 per name plus the $49 repository fee, 24 to 48 hour turnaround, every hit reviewed before release Order the Louisiana statewide search.
County criminal court search
Direct research at the county courthouse, $18 plus any court fees, seven-year standard scope. This is the search that confirms a database hit before it reaches a report. County court search details.
Nationwide criminal database
$17 locator search of thousands of court, corrections, and registry sources with three name variations searched at once. Every hit is verified at the source before it is reported. Nationwide database search.
Motor vehicle records
State driving records for any position that drives on company business, with CDL and DOT-regulated roles supported. Motor vehicle records.
SSN trace and address history
Included at no extra cost in every search package: 10-plus years of reported address history to point criminal searches at the right counties. SSN trace.
Verifications
Employment, education, professional license, and reference verifications, plus employment credit reports for positions with financial responsibility, all ordered from the same account.
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Louisiana employer compliance checklist
Twelve steps that keep a Louisiana screening program inside the FCRA, Act 406, the E-Verify statute and the drug-testing law.
- Use a stand-alone FCRA disclosure and a separate written authorization for every candidate.
- Ask about convictions only, never arrests, and instruct your screening company accordingly.
- Write an individual assessment under Act 406 before declining any candidate for a conviction, and give the applicant the background information on written request.
- Define the screening scope for each position class and apply it to every candidate in that class.
- Never use expunged or juvenile records; read Article 893 and 894 outcomes before acting.
- Keep non-convictions within seven years below $75,000; set a written policy window for convictions.
- Send the pre-adverse action package, wait a reasonable period, then send the final adverse-action notice.
- For every hire, either run E-Verify or keep copies of the identification and work-authorization documents.
- Use E-Verify on every public contract.
- Test only through a SAMHSA-certified laboratory with MRO review, under a written policy.
- Limit credit reports to positions with financial responsibility and document the reason.
- Do not ask for social-media usernames or passwords.
Louisiana background check laws: employer FAQs
Each answer names the statute, what it requires, and the agency that administers it.
Does Louisiana have a ban-the-box law?
For state employers, yes. La. R.S. 42:1701 (Act 398 of 2016) bars state employers from asking about criminal history for unclassified positions until the applicant has had an opportunity to interview or received a conditional offer, except law enforcement, corrections and law-required checks, and State Civil Service Rule 22.4.1 applies the same timing to classified jobs. Private employers may ask at any stage, but La. R.S. 23:291.2 (Act 406 of 2021) requires an individual assessment and bars use of arrests that did not lead to conviction. New Orleans and East Baton Rouge Parish apply fair-chance rules to their own hiring and contractors.
What does Louisiana Act 406 require?
La. R.S. 23:291.2 requires an employer that considers criminal history to make an individual assessment of whether the record has a direct and adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job, weighing the nature and gravity of the offense or conduct, the time elapsed, and the nature of the job. It also bars requesting or considering arrest records or charges that did not result in a conviction, and requires the employer to make the background information used available to the applicant on written request. The section names no employee threshold, enforcing agency or penalty; it sets the standard courts and the EEOC apply, and most firms read it through the Employment Discrimination Law’s 20-employee definition.
Are employment credit checks restricted in Louisiana?
No. Louisiana has no statute limiting employer credit checks; the managerial-and-fiduciary rule sometimes described does not exist, and La. R.S. 9:3571.1 regulates credit reporting agencies and consumer file access rather than employers. The federal FCRA applies: stand-alone disclosure, written authorization, a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and the Summary of Your Rights, and a final adverse-action notice, enforced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission.
Is E-Verify mandatory in Louisiana?
Private employers must either use E-Verify or retain copies of each new hire’s picture identification and one listed work-authorization document under La. R.S. 23:995; doing either takes the employer outside the state civil penalties, which run up to $500, $1,000 and $2,500 per unauthorized worker for successive violations plus a license suspension. Contractors on state and local public contracts must swear to E-Verify use under La. R.S. 38:2212.10. The Louisiana Workforce Commission investigates complaints, and Form I-9 remains required for every hire.
How many years back can a Louisiana background check go?
Louisiana has no lookback statute, so the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act governs. Consumer reporting agencies may not report arrests and other non-convictions older than seven years for positions paying under $75,000; convictions carry no federal age limit. Under Act 406, covered employers may not use non-convictions at all. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission enforce the FCRA.
What are Louisiana’s drug-testing rules?
La. R.S. 49:1001 et seq. requires employers that test for marijuana, opioids, cocaine, amphetamines or phencyclidine to use a SAMHSA- or CAP-certified laboratory following the SAMHSA guidelines, have a medical review officer certify positives, keep results confidential and give a confirmed-positive employee access to the records within seven working days of a written request; federally mandated programs, oil and gas exploration and production, and regulated utilities are carved out. Private employers need not accommodate medical marijuana; La. R.S. 49:1016 (Act 651 of 2022) protects state employees only. DOT-regulated positions follow 49 C.F.R. Part 40, administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Can a Louisiana employer see expunged records?
No. Records expunged under La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 971 et seq. are confidential and no longer public. Under art. 973 the person need not disclose the arrest, conviction or expungement to anyone except law enforcement, criminal justice agencies and prosecutors, and only the listed licensing boards, such as the Office of Financial Institutions, the medical, nursing, dentistry and pharmacy boards and the Department of Insurance, may obtain the record on written request. District courts enter the orders and the Louisiana State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification carries them out.
Can Louisiana employers ask for social media passwords?
No. The Personal Online Account Privacy Protection Act, La. R.S. 51:1951 et seq., bars employers from requesting or requiring a username, password or other authentication information for a personal online account and from penalizing or threatening an applicant or employee who refuses, while excepting employer-issued devices and accounts and allowing review of publicly available content. The Act names no enforcing agency or penalty.
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This page is general information for employers, not legal advice. BCS Background Screening LLC is a consumer reporting agency, not a law firm. Louisiana statutes, local ordinances, and agency guidance change; confirm current requirements with employment counsel before adopting or changing a screening policy. Rules described as current were reviewed in September 2026.